Review: Requiem (Delirum #3) by Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium, #3) by Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date: March 5th, 2013
Number of pages: 391 pgs
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository | Bookworld Australia

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.(

This will be short and sweet.

I delayed reading this book because I already knew how it was going to end. And that wasn't just my only problem with this.

Requiem is the final novel in this trilogy. You have Hana and Lena with their own POVs as they deal with different things in their lives.
Hana is cured and currently planning her wedding, but the more she discovers about her fiance', the less confidence she feels that marrying him is the right thing to do.
Hana discovers more about him than she might have wanted to know, and it will make her question everything she knew or wanted.

Lena is dealing with the fact her presumed first love is in fact alive, and juggling that information while with her new boyfriend, Julian.
There is the rebellion going on, and she doesn't have time to deal with her feelings for both of the boys. And soon enough, her and Hana's lives start to combine when their stories become connected and they have that very important confrontation.

I will admit, I am very disappointed in this book. Not only by the ending, which felt misplaced and out of nowhere, but also the sudden rush of Alex's feelings suddenly coming back appeared random. Lena's complete lack of respect for her own boyfriend, Julian.. who  felt she led him on, and by the end, there wasn't any indication that she planned to do anything about that.

I could not enjoy any Lena/Alex, because I didn't feel they were the same as they were. Things had changed, and so have they. I hated that she didn't talk to Julian about her feelings.. for him, for Alex How she felt. If she planned on breaking up with him, then I would have preferred her to be honest with him so he could move on to someone that did completely love him. It felt like to me she was holding onto him for whatever reason.
I felt for Julian most of all. He did not deserve how she treated him. He could look after himself, and there were times where I loved their moments, but then I remembered her longing for something she could not have, and the fact she was leading him on just because he was there.

Not only was there no conclusion at the end, but there was also no mention of anything prior to this book, such as Raven's pregnancy which was mentioned in her novella. It's like certain things were not even mentioned. It felt a rushed job, and I was disappointed because I know Lauren could do better. After the last two books which were great... this one was just such a letdown.

Rating: 2/5